Information about Personal Aides

by Ginger B.

There are many companies that are available to give you services to get a personal aide.  Sometimes you have to go through a few of them to get the right fit for you as I did!  I have Direct Home Health Care and I am very happy with their services.  I went through five aides until I found the right fit for myself!  I have learned so much from my personal aide.  She has taught me how to come out of my shell and deal with the public so well.  She has taught me how to be much more organized, which truly makes my life easier.  She has been there for my ups and downs.  If I am going to fall, she catches me before I fall most of the time.  If she doesn’t, she helps me up and checks me over.  She has also taken me to the emergency room when I got very sick.  She has truly been a true comfort to me and I truly look forward to her coming to my home to help me.  I have excelled so much with the help of my personal aide.

Top Reasons to Get an Aide:

1. A person aide can help you with your housework, especially what you have difficulties doing.
2. A personal aide can help you to remember to take your medicines on time and to let you know when they are due to be refilled.
3. A personal aide is great company, especially if you are isolated and they can become an advocate for you,(for example: they can help you to learn to do things on your own that you couldn’t normally do.
4. A personal aide can help you with organizational skills.
5. A personal aide can help teach you how to handle your money!
6. A personal aide can take you places you need to go such as going to the grocery store and etc.

Welcome to our newest intern Courtney

 

Welcome to our newest intern Courtney

By: Barry F.

 

 

Courtney Marie Pitts from Richmond VA attends Christopher Newport University with a major in Social Work and Psychology.  Her internship at the Denbigh House started on August 26^th and she will finish in April 2015.  She will be working in the Communications Unit.  She doesn’t know much about brain injuries but she is willing to learn.  She hopes to gain insight into how to help people with brain injuries. 

She found out about the Denbigh House through the Social Work program at CNU.  Her favorite hobbies are: Running, Baking and doing Yoga.  She wants everyone to know that she knows how to drive a stick shift because most young people don’t know how to drive a clutch.  She graduates from CNU in May of 2015.  Her main goal is to become an Occupational Therapist.  In conclusion, I think Courtney will be a good asset to the Denbigh House.  She is curious and seems interested in learning about Brain Injury.  I wish her well in her future endeavors.

Welcome to our newest intern

 

     I would like to bid a hearty welcome to our newest  intern Kenyetta Laneil Smith from Milwaukee Wisconsin.  She is a student of Social Work Norfolk State University.  Today the 19th of August is her first day.  She plans to end her internship in early December.

 

When I asked her what she knew about brain injury she said that TBI survivors have problems with memory, behavioral disorders and other neurological issues. 

 

She said she was interested in community programming and coping mechanisms used in treatments for TBI clients.  She obtained the internship at the Denbigh House from  her program coordinator who was a mutual friend of Alex Watson. 

 

Kenyetta's hobbies are: Cooking, fishing and Reading.  She has a daughter and she is very proud of her.  Upon graduation from NSU she plans to veterans programing.  I would like to wish Kenyetta much success in her endeavors.



Depression after a Brain Injury

by Barry F.


My life started again in June, 14982 when I crossed the street and was hit by a car. After this incident my whole personality changed. I began to feel sad all the time . I had been a happy person most of the time prior to the accident. I began to wonder if something was wrong with me. Also, I began to notice my memory was failing and I was only thirty-two years old. Therefore, I became depressed even more.


As time went by I got more involved socially. However, the depression would not go away. I began seeing a neurologist. He told me that depression is a common side effect of brain injuries. He prescribed antidepressants to help improve my mood. This did help for a time but the medication side effects made it impossible to continue treatment.


I began to attend group therapy and counseling sessions. However, listening to people's problems just made me more depressed. Finally, I was accepted into a brain injury program at Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Staunton, VA. I learned coping mechanisms and anger management techniques to combat the depression. After a year there I was better able to control my depression.


Currently, I am a member of the Denbigh House in Newport News, VA. The staff there has made me feel more productive and useful. My whole life has turned around. I am happier than I have ever been and I am engaged to be married! To conclude, I would just like to say don't give up on yourself to others with depression. It is an uphill battle at first but the harder you work the better you will feel about yourself. Depression can be overcome with therapy and patience. However, it could take a very long time before you are fully recovered.

Conference with DRS Experience

by: Shasmin A.


On Tuesday, August 12, 2014, I went with Alex to a conference to speak to Hired Hands - a job coaching group that helps those who need help with finding jobs - about The Denbigh House and their services. She spoke about the two different types of brain injuries, acquired brain injuries and traumatic brain injuries, and how they are obtained. The Denbigh House is a clubhouse for traumatic brain injury survivors, which is why I was chosen to attend the conference. Near the end, I got to share my story of how I obtained my brain injury, which was brought about because of a car accident. I shared what I could remember of life before, life during, and life after the injury. I also shared information about how I learned about The Denbigh House. I have been attending now since November 25, 2013. This was my first time sharing my story to a group of people I did not know. It was a nice experience and once The Denbigh House gets the approval from the Hampton city school director, I look forward to speaking to the students taking driver's education in their classrooms.

Bingo In-House Social Program

Dear D.H. Members, come one, come all! On Tuesday, August 26, 2014 from 12:30-onward, The Denbigh House will have a In-House  Social Program and the main event is going to be Bingo! There will be Door prizes, games and much more. The price is 5 bucks! You can't get be that! 

Stress and Seizures

By Geoffrey B.

Hey everyone!  I am here today to chat about stress and seizures.  I tell you if just one inch of stress hits me, I am down and out.  So I am very careful not to put a lot of stress on myself.  The Epilepsy Foundation also said, "Stress is one of the most common seizure triggers for people with epilepsy."  There are many types of stressors.  Money, relationships, marriage and even depression, like what happened to Robin Williams.  So with stress and seizures, it over works the brain.  This is Geoffrey signing off, but if you want all the details go to Stress and Epilepsy!  

Depression, My Cure

                              Depression, My Cure

                                          by Richard D.

  Growing up I was never really experienced depression, so after having a TBI as an adult, I was forced to deal with my depression. Rather than try to function while dwelling in a “woe is me” frame of mind, to take my mind off of the situation, I took up a hobby with a skill that I had dev-eloped in my youth and that was painting.

  Before I was even in my teens, I began painting classes with Agnes Johnson. Watercolors were used in her classes. However, as an adult I began to use a different medium for my paintings. I took up painting with acrylic paint. Acrylic paint appealed to because it was applied like watercolor paint, but appeared like oil paint when it was dry.

  Painting allowed me to focus my mind on my project and take it off of any problem that I had, or imagined that I had, at the time.

Advocating Tips By: Debra Jones

While at the Denbigh House on Thursday, I read Issue Spot 7 February 2013, Tips on Advocacy.  The article states advocates are as diverse as the issues and groups they represent.  However a good advocate has:

               -subject matter expertise

                -honesty

                -good communication skills

                 -good judgment

 

Further it stated advocates should also be clear, concise, truthful and compelling.  We should develop trust with our listeners and honestly say how their vote would impact us.   Remember, that we are presenting one side, and there are two sides to every story.    Find out the legalities about the proposed bill and find out what else is going on in the Senate.  Be patient and do the right things at the right time.

Please don’t play the name game.  Sometimes it’s not who you know but what you know.   Maintain an honest relationship; although the issues may be top priority to you it may not be to the legislature.   Yet, ask for their support, because if your bill doesn’t pass the first time it’s filed in the legislature, just be gracious, say thank you and wait for the next opportunity.

   

Joseph K.'s TBI Testimony

by Joe K.
My brain injury occurred 2 years ago May 12, 2012. I was stopped at a stoplight and a lady rear ended me approximately at 45mph. Even though I was wearing a seat belt, the crown of my head hit the steering wheel and I was in a daze. I had suffered concussions before playing football in HS and college football and playing ten seasons of Rugby. When the paramedics arrived, I told them I was OK ignoring their insistence on taking me to the hospital. I felt a little dazed but I felt I could drive to the dump where I was headed before I got hit.


I rested a bit and then continued to the dump to get rid of my load of branches in my truck. While I was on my way home, maybe a couple of hours since I'd been hit, I experienced tunnel vision where the eyes only see half, the half next to my nose. Experiencing dizziness and floaters I pulled over and took a rest. I later went to the Hospital, where I had an x-ray and MRI and I was getting sore. They wanted to keep me for observation but I wanted to get home. I had received a pinched sciatic nerve in my back where the pain extended on my right side to the ball of my foot. I was in constant pain for over a year. I have a case of neuropathy; I got from the accident where you experience pins and needles sensations all over which I still live with now.


I will conclude, after a year of therapy, I started going to meetings such as Brain Survivors and Cognitive Communication Groups at the Denbigh house and now attend regular day sessions. It was mind blowing to meet others with different brain injuries, but the same deficits such as short term memory loss, seizures, concentration and the ability to focus, speech problems and the social stigma that is typical with a brain injury. The Denbigh House staff identifies and addresses each person's malady with appropriate therapy while keeping the individual.......individual.

The Lieutenant Governor’s Visit

By Richard Dodge
 

On Monday, August 4th The Denbigh House was paid the honor of a visit by our Lieutenant Governor, Ralph Northam. All of the staff and members of The Denbigh House were pleased to have him visit because it enabled us the opportunity to strut our stuff for a high ranking state officer and show off to a big shot what this facility is all about when it comes to the recovery from a TBI.

Mr. Northam seemed very interested in TDH and asked Alex and a number of our members questions about the wants and needs of TDH and our aspirations. So it goes without saying that we were pleased to have the Lieutenant Governor come and pay us a brief visit.

 

Living with Epilepsy

By Geoffrey B.
Hello Friends and Family! Keisha, my fiancé, was on Facebook and saw something called Living with Epilepsy.  So since I have epilepsy, I have already signed myself up.  On the Life with Epilepsy page, there were some good stories and there were some bad ones. Also, it gave some good information like the Vagus Nerve Stimulator that I have. So when you get a chance, check it out!